The Interceptors (History of Margovya)
This article is about the 1969 TV series. For its 2008 spin-off, see . For the 2007 science fiction series, see . |Row 2 title = Executive Producer |Row 2 info = Iosef Dimakulanov (1969-1974) (1974-1993) (1993-1997) (2016-2017) |Row 3 title = Starring |Row 3 info = (See ) |Row 4 title = Opening theme |Row 4 info = Vasily Borisov - "Intercept Me" (1969-1973) The Margovyan Oldies - "Rock This Town" (1974-1981) Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'" (1981-1987) U2 - "With or Without You" (1987-1996) Conrada Cortesova - "Don't Stop" (1996-1997) The Heavy - "Short Change Hero" (2016-2017) |Row 5 title = Broadcast |Row 5 info = Margovyan National Broadcasting Network |Row 6 title = Genre |Row 6 info = Action, Comedy, Drama, Suspense, Romance |Row 7 title = No. of Seasons |Row 7 info = 28 |Row 8 title = No. of Episodes |Row 8 info = 770 (+1 special) ( ) |Row 9 title = Running Time |Row 9 info = 36-39 minutes (regular) 73-79 minutes (2-part) 110-118 minutes (3-part) |Row 10 title = Original Run |Row 10 info = April 26, 1969-December 19, 1997 December 9, 2016-July 7, 2017}} The Interceptors is a 1969 TV series created by and was popular during the 1970's and 1980's. After Dimakulanov resigned from the series, it was continued by , and later, . It starred a wide variety of actors and actresses during its twenty-eight-year run, the final lineup being , , , , , , , , and . Some of its remarkable actors from the earlier seasons include , , , , , , , and . The series premiered on April 26, 1969, and spanned a total of seven hundred fifty episodes over twenty-seven seasons, until it got cancelled on August 27, 1997 due to its steadily declining ratings, airing its final episode on December 19, 1997. The series follows the story of a group of police officers in the Arbatskaya City Police District called the Task Force Interceptors who faces different kinds of challenges from time to time. Although the show ended because of steadily decreasing ratings, it is still known as one of the best television series in Margovya, and was received by critics very well. On 2000, three years after the show ended, was released in theaters nationwide, garnered a box office total of about 979 million margots, and spawning four sequels, which were released on , , and , respectively, after which a to the series was developed by and began broadcast on 2008. The franchise's sixth film, , was released on April 26, 2014 celebrating the show's 45th anniversary, featuring the cast of the new Interceptors. A seventh film, , which was described as a "spiritual crossover" between the old and new series, was released on February 15, 2017 and went on to be the highest-grossing Margovyan film of all-time. An eighth film, called Calling All Interceptors, celebrating the show's 50th anniversary, is under post-production and is scheduled to be released on April 24, 2019. Plot 'Season 1 (1969-1970)' Main Article: In June 1968, twenty-five year old ( ), recent graduate of the Arbatskaya City Police Academy, takes an opportunity out of a job vacancy at a small police unit in the Arbatskaya City Police Department, called Task Force Interceptors, at the recommendation of his roommate and long-time best friend ( ), who was currently holding the position of Speed. Yefrem managed to get the job, a newly-established position called "The Brain," and quickly earned the trust of Capt. ( ), then head of the Task Force Interceptors (a position more commonly known as "The Interceptor"). During his first year in the Task Force Interceptors, Yefrem has developed a tag team friendship with the unit's "Brawn," ( ), a love-hate relationship with the "Mouth," ( ), and a little sexual tension with the unit's "Queen of the Bed," ( ). During the season, the unit also managed to establish connections with Lt. Shevchenko ( ) of the Susana LXV subplatoon of the Margovyan Army, who would turn out to be a big help in the following seasons; and Marko Tidzhomov ( ), Mikhail's friend from the Yobatav City Police Department, who aided them in critical and dangerous missions. At the end of the season, the group welcomes a new member, Dzherik Aldovich ( ), cousin of the season's main antagonist Lev Aldovich ( ), following a standoff between Lev and Mikhail in the season finale "Siege" where Dzherik took the bullet that Lev was meant to fire on Mikhail. Not having trusted by Kurotovsky at first for being related to the team's arch nemesis, Dzherik proved his credibility by selflessly putting his own life in jeopardy and ultimately earning a newly-established position called "The Technologist." 'Season 2 (1970-1971)' Main Article: The Task Force Interceptors develop a new tradition of renting VHS copies of films at a video leasing shop only blocks from the office and watching the movies on off-duty breaks, after making friends with the shop's owner Timofey Parovsky ( ), whom they first accused as selling/leasing pirated copies. They also embark on a journey to the United States to track down and arrest an NYPD most wanted criminal, and collected $4,000 as reward, which they used to improve the facilities of the office, and equip each desk with walkie-talkies, which aided them in many situations in the following episodes. The Task Force Interceptors also starts to deal with another most wanted criminal, Ismail Tarapov ( ), a member of the Bulshitovskaya Bratva who was plotting to kill then RBI Director Ruma Oriondovich ( ), who, according to Tarapov, falsely accused him of a crime that was never mentioned in any of the episodes. After the Interceptors, with the help of the Susana LXV subplatoon, arrest Tarapov and screw his plans of getting revenge on RBI Director Oriondovich, Tarapov starts going after the Interceptors, first posing as Mikhail in an attempt to record the unit's regular operations. Tarapov's attacks on the Task Force Interceptors quickly escalates, until on April 5, 1970, he shot Azamat dead in the office during an overnight shift while Yefrem was bringing a wasted Mikhail home, on top of which, he kidnapped Amanda for almost a month, leaving the Interceptors almost powerless. However, after they successfully tracked down Tarapov's hideout, the Interceptors, along with some cadets from the Susana LXV subplatoon and some officers from the Yobatav City Police Department, managed to retrieve Amanda from Tarapov and his accomplices, after which Mikhail shot Tarapov to death and arrested the remaining accomplices left alive in the encounter. At Azamat's funeral days after the dangerous mission, Amanda formally resigns from the Task Force Interceptors, leaving the unit with only five members: Yefrem, Maria, Konrad, Dzherik and Mikhail. Shortly after the funeral, the team was called by Capt. Gavril Lamitalovsky ( ) of the Ikulsk Police Department for a mission, which involves a series of operations designated for a secret special agents unit, whose members all died in a massive rampage in Acapulco, Mexico. After being offered a huge reward for completing twenty-seven missions in a span of a year, Mikhail and the rest of the Intereptors decided to leave for Ikulsk, and entrust Lt. Shevchenko with the headquarters. 'Season 3 (1971-1972)' Main Article: Four weeks after the events of "An Unlimited Line of Operations," Mikhail took another month to fill in the positions of the Brawn and Queen of the Bed. After a bed audition and a goon-beating challenge, Vasilisa Yorutova ( ), a former employee of a strip club in Viktoriyovskaya, was taken in as the Queen of the Bed, and Kiril Kamchatsky ( ), younger brother of the late Azamat Kamchatsky, was taken in as the Brawn. A month later, the team started going over the list of operations that needed to be done until the secret deniable operations unit can hire new permanent replacements for the ill-fated secret agents. Also, Konrad reveals that Yekaterina, his former girlfriend from season 1, has, since they broke up, pursued her dream to become an actress, and in an attempt on her life in "Operation: Celebrity Assassination," Konrad took a bullet for her, hitting him near the chest and putting him in a coma for almost one month, leaving the unit with no help in "Operation: High Speed Chase," until Senior Officer Ruma Palpovich ( ) of the Ikulsk Police Department decided to fill in. However, in a conversation between him and Yefrem about Konrad taking a bullet for his former girlfriend who cheated on him and embarrassed him to a great extent, Yefrem mentioned that he would never do it to such a girl, mentioning how Maria is his "Yekaterina." However, Maria, who has since confessed finally having feeling for Yefrem, overheard the conversation and, heartbroken, decided to leave Task Force Interceptors. However, on "Operation: Romance," the Interceptors set the two up on a date. Maria reluctantly returns to the team, but insists that she and Yefrem cannot share the same task. However, when the two got paired up in "Operation: The Great Race Bust," they talk about their situation and made up, bringing the team back into the game and making them able to bust and arrest all seventy-three underground racers. However, despite what he said about Maria, the episode "Operation: The Final One" showed that Yefrem actually did take a bullet for her, making them officially a couple by the end of the season. After accomplishing all twenty-seven operations, the crew was surprised with the new secret agents of the deniable operations unit, and a cash reward of m750,000, which they use to finally renovate the headquarters into more than just an ordinary police office. 'Season 4 (1972-1973)' Main Article: After successfully accomplishing the long line of operations in Ikulsk, the team goes back to Arbatskaya and renovated the headquarters, turning it into a small building, adding a cubicle space for another position, which they would call "The Actor," as they realized that, since most of the hardest challenges in their previous mission were cons and scams, they would need someone who would help them defeat con artists by beating them in their own game. They held a fake movie casting auditions, in which Grigoriya Rambuva ( ), an aspiring actress who had been desperately going to "just about any movie auditions" to finally make it as a movie star, got the part. However, she immediately backed out and quit when she found out that she was "scammed" into joining a police force. Mikhail then calls the close second, Officer Dzherik Oslanov ( ), a police officer who got fired from Bulshitova City Police Department after failing three scam-busting operations, who then accepted the job and was hired as the very first "actor" of the Task Force Interceptors. After successfully stopping what seemed like a simple gang war between an infamous Peruvian gang, the Trujillo faction of a large Chinese organization, and the Andivinskaya Bratva, the Task Force Interceptors end up being in a more tough situation as the Peruvian gang was angered by the interference of the Task Force Interceptors that they took out their anger on the Margovyan government. Soon, they were trashing the TFI headquarters, and the Margovyan Palace, leading the government to retaliate. However, before they could do anything, a missile was fired and hit Lima, near the Peruvian Government Palace. Apparently, it was a failed attack by the Chinese gang; the missile, apparently a CedLee brand but labeled "Made In Peru", was supposed to be fired on the main turf of the Peruvian gang only thirteen kilometers south of the Palace, but instead went to destroy the area near the Government Palace and, as a counterfeit substandard product, inflicted only 12-14% of its intended damage. The Peruvian government took this as a direct attack from the Margovyan government, and immediately declares war on Margovya. During the war, the Task Force Interceptors played a big role in sending home Margovyans who were currently working, residing or travelling around Peru, as the Peruvian military units saw them as initial targets before going across the border to attack Margovya on its own land. To prevent this from happening, the Margovyan government launched a six-month war-time mission in Lima, which aims to destroy both the Peruvian gang and the military units before they wreak havoc in Margovya, inviting at least three platoons each from the army, navy, and air force, and all officers from the Margovyan National Police ranked Captain or higher, to travel to Lima for six months or until the war is over. Initially, Mikhail, the only Interceptor eligible for the mission, refused to go; however, after several Peruvian army units did attack part of Arbatskaya City, killing Lt. Shevchenko and several cadets and officers of the Susana LXV subplatoon in the process, Mikhail accepted the task. On August 18, 1972, Mikhail boards a Margovyan Air Force chopper, making a dramatic and remarkable walkout from the Task Force Interceptors. On January 14, 1973, barely five months into the mission, the Task Force Interceptors received a telegram, saying that Mikahil died in battle. His body was delivered back to Margovya on January 16, after which a brief memorial service and a funeral was held before the remaining members of the unit discussed about the ultimate fate of the Task Force Interceptors without Mikhail Kurotovsky. Konrad, who was still angry at Mikhail after overhearing a conversation between him and Kiril shortly before the mission on how Konrad was only a "mere replacement" of his best friend Mark, the very first Speed of the Task Force Interceptors, to whom Mikhail would have given the position if something ever happened to him in the war, did not show up on Mikhail's funeral, and aggressively took over the unit afterwards. Yefrem receives a letter from Mikhail, delivered by his five year old son Vladimir. The letter states that Mikhail is promoting Yefrem two ranks over to Colonel, and that he is naming Yefrem Interim Interceptor. Yefrem now had the choice of either fully accepting the job as the unit's second Interceptor, or handing the position over to someone who is more worthy. Yefrem, not wanting to take the job, consulted with Konrad, who was so depressed with Mikhail's decision that he went to Mikhail's grave to "dig up his body and kill him again." Yefrem then transfers Lieutenant-Colonel Ruma Palpovich to the Arbatskaya Police Department, promotes him two ranks over to Captain, and names him the second Interceptor of the Task Force Interceptors. Slowly having recovered from the aftermath of both the Peruvian-Margovyan war and the death of Mikhail, the Task Force Interceptors was once again faced with another threat, a huge storm that was about to cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific, running over Margovya in the process, its strongest attack doled out into Arbatskaya City and its neighboring cities. Though having prepared a week for it, the storm strikes and destroys almost half of Arbatskaya City. 'Season 5 (1974)' 'Season 6 (1975)' 'Season 7 (1976)' 'Season 8 (1977)' 'Season 9 (1978)' 'Season 10 (1979)' Main Article: One of the most popular running gags of the series, which was later confirmed to be called the "five tales of the Interceptors" was introduced in what was known as one of the best seasons of the series. In 1978, the Task Force Interceptors was given a task to thwart the Margovyan faction of Coital Erection, one of the most notorious albeit unfortunately named street racing crew in the world. Ruma divides the task force into three groups: Yefrem, Maria and Marvik research on the whereabouts of all the Erection members in Margovya; Konrad, Kiril, David and Hassan try and capture every suspect found in an area; while Azamat, Fadia and Ruma call for or serve as back-up if the hands-on team can't handle it on their own. Yefrem and Maria, who had just broken up amicably at the end of the previous season, were civil but very awkward towards each other during the entire mission, while Marvik usually gets caught in the middle. Meanwhile, Azamat and Fadia get transferred permanently to the hands-on team, when Kiril, David and Hassan started complaining that Konrad is almost always missing in action during their missions. The interceptor decided to let it slide for a moment, but Yefrem, who has known Konrad for years and knows something is going on, he decided to conduct an investigation himself. After discovering a secret training ground of the Erection members only a few blocks away from Arbatskaya State University, Yefrem finds out that Konrad is actually training with the Coital Erection. At first, Yefrem was eager to tell the Interceptor on Konrad. However, after overhearing Konrad confess to his fellow members in the race team how guilty he was from keeping such a secret from his best friend (i.e., Yefrem), he decided to keep this to himself. However, one by one, all members of the Interceptors (except Ruma) found out about it (without Yefrem telling them about it), but Yefrem insisted not to confront Konrad yet. Eventually, Konrad confronts Yefrem, saying that he's leaving the Interceptors to join Coital Erection full-time. As a result, Yefrem admits that he had known Konrad's involvement in the Erection for a while, and tells him to either he would stay at the Interceptors or go with the Erection and have himself arrested when the unit busts down the race crew. Konrad says that he'd rather go, and finally opens up about everything that had been bothering him since Kurotovsky died five years prior, about how he was a mere "replacement" for the original speed of the crew, and about how Kurotovsky never really cared about him. Yefrem snapped, telling Konrad that Kurotovsky picked him as Interim Interceptor, not Yefrem. He adds that the reason why he lied is that he felt that Konrad, who was blinded by anger that time, will just drive the crew further down. Konrad then storms out of the headquarters. Yefrem was then confronted by Maria, who oerheard the entire conversation, telling him that this was exactly like the time the original speed of the Interceptors, Mark Poliostrov, died in a car accident in 1966. In what was known as the "Tale of the Speed," Kurotovsky and Poliostrov got into a huge argument when the latter decided to defect to an underground racing crew that the task force had been trying to take down for six months. After the argument, Poliostrov walked away and drove as fast as possible, and Kurotovsky never cared to stop or follow him, and Poliostrov died from an accident that followed. Upon heaqring this, Yefrem decided to make peace with Konrad. Yefrem is then seen in a motorcycle, stopping Konrad from making a sharp left when the traffic lights turned green, and then apologized for everything. It is later revealed that it was all in his head, when he was planning on what to say to Konrad. When Yefrem leaves the headquarters, he was too late; a news flash showed that Konrad died in a car accident in the same spot that Mark Poliostrov crashed twelve years prior. On the next episode, the last episode of the season, the Interceptors was able to completely bust down all the members of the Margovyan faction of Coital Erection. The international leader of the race crew threatened Ruma, the story of it continuing onto the next season. Meanwhile, after the Interceptors have celebrated having busted the local faction of one of the notorious racing crews in the world, and have paid their last respects to the late Konrad Dzhamalsky, Yefrem talks to Maria, saying that losing his best friend was one of the worst things that had ever happened to him, and that he couldn't afford to lose any more of his loved ones. Yefrem then knelt down in front of Maria and asks her hand for marriage, and Maria replies in the affirmative. 'Season 11 (1980)' Main Article: The Interceptors were back in mission shortly after the capture and arrest of the Margovyan faction leader of the world-famous street racing crew Coital Erection, as the crew's international president personally threatened Interceptor Ruma Palpovich and the rest of the operations unit. As of then, the Interceptors were short of a Speed, following Konrad Dzhamalsky's untimely death on August 13, 1978. The crew spent the first four episodes of the season on a search for a new Speed, but to no avail; Maria was even worried that it may take an entire year before the crew would be able to hire a new Speed, just like back when Mark Poliostrov, the crew's first Speed, died in August 1966, wherein it took until October of 1967 until they were able to hire a new one, in the form of Konrad. In the episode "The Curse Is Broken" (11x05), the crew was able to capture about twenty racers from the Brazilian faction of Coital Erection, and the said captives were held at Arbatskaya City Jail for approximately 24 hours before they were supposed to be deported to Brazil. However, a few of the captured Brazilian fugitives created a scene, causing all of the foreign prisoners and some of the captured Margovyan members to escape from jail. Ruma and Yefrem were able to capture one of the escaped convicts, by the name of Dzhamal Eskapov ( ). Ruma initially threatened Dzhamal that he will be taken to court and be sentenced to a death penalty, but when Dzhamal brought up Konrad, who used to train with the Erection before he died, Yefrem convinced Ruma to keep the convict alive. Ruma agrees, and he tells Dzhamal that he will be taken off the MNP watchlist if he agrees to be the new Speed of the Interceptors. Dzhamal agrees, and he was brought in to the Convicts' Rehab Division of the Arbatskaya City Police Academy. In the episode "The Oath of a Former Fugitive" (11x17), after six months in police academy, Dzhamal became an official Interceptor, taking up the post of the Speed. At first, Ruma was skeptical of the intentions of the ex-convict, but he proved to have been helpful in escaping from the wrath of Coital Erection. However, in the episode "The Sentence" (11x24-25), Ruma and Kiril overheard a conversation between Dhamal and one of his fellow members form the race crew, Yevgeniy Urovsky ( ) who was getting executed the next day. Urovsky made it seem like Eskapov was trying to gain the trust of the Interceptors so he could take them down eventually, which was true at first, but not anymore as Dzhamal have grown to love the unit like his own family. Ruma immediately ordered that Dzhamal be tried that day so he could join his fellow Erection members in execution. Yefrem, who trusted Dzhamal from the start, gave him a parole and released him from prison. Yefrem, who almost got fired from the Interceptors because of what he did, was able to prove Dzhamal's true intentions to the unit. In the episode "No More Erection" (11x31), Dzhamal took a bullet for Ruma, the same way Dzherik Aldovich did when he was getting Mikhail Kurotovsky's trust in season 1 (on Yefrem's suggestion), and he was re-accepted as a permanent Speed. Meanwhile, in the episode "I Do... Do I?" (11x32), Yefrem and Maria, with the help of Yefrem's best man Kiril, were making last minute preparations for the wedding. However, Yefrem and Kiril were ambushed by an unknown assailant while they were at the hotel gift shop buying something for the baby when Yefrem thought Maria was pregnant due to her constant vomiting throughout the entire episode. Both of them survived the ambush; however, at the wedding, when the couple were about to say their wedding vows, Maria fainted and fell into Yefrem's arms. The same gunman who ambushed both Yefrem and Kiril barged into the chapel and started shooting everyone, instantly killing Kiril, and injuring Yefrem and the rest of the Interceptors who were at the altar, except for Maria who was already laid down unconscious at the chapel. This causes a panic to follow, which is continued on to the next season. 'Season 12 (1981)' Main Article: Amidst the chaos at the chapel during the wedding of Yefrem and Maria following a shootout by a then-unidentified gunman, Yefrem, injured from taking a bullet, was able to take Maria's unconscious body out of the chapel, with a help from Ruma. The gunman, on the other hand, was later revealed to be Cedric Lee, the fugitive that the Interceptors had been pursuing for ten years. 'Season 13 (1982-1983)' 'Season 14 (1983-1984)' 'Season 15 (1984-1985)' 'Season 16 (1985-1986)' 'Season 17 (1986-1987)' 'Season 18 (1987-1988)' 'Season 19 (1988-1989)' ''The 20th Birthday'' (1989) 'Season 20 (1989-1990)' 'Season 21 (1990-1991)' 'Season 22 (1991-1992)' 'Season 23 (1992-1993)' 'Season 24 (1993-1994)' 'Season 25 (1994-1995)' 'Season 26 (1995-1996)' 'Season 27 (1996-1997)' 'Season 28 (2016-2017)' Cast Main Article: Main Cast ; Brain * as (1969-1997) * as Boris Zabrovsky (née Engels) (2016-2017) ; Mouth * as (1969-1981) * as (1982-1990) * as (1990-1996) * as (1996-1997) * as Yelena Vormanina (2016-2017) ; Actor/Actress * as (1972-1974) * as (1975-1983) * as (1983-1988) * as (1988-1992) * as (1992-1997) * as Agatha Candreva (2016-2017) ; Speed * as (1969-1979) * as (1980-1991) * as (1991-1997) * as (2016-2017) ; Technologist * as (1970-1973) * as (1974-1984) * as (1984-1989) * as (1989-1990) * as (1990-1993) * as (1993-1997) * as Faddey Dragunov (2016-2017) ; Extortionist * as (1976-1987) * as (1987-1994) * as (1994-1997) * as Iosif Bakstrov (2016-2017) ; Brawn * as (1969-1971) * as (1971-1980) * as " " (1981-1990) * as (1990-1996) * as (1996-1997) * as Yakov Royovsky (2016-2017) ; Spy * as (1978-1992) * as (1992-1997) * as Yuri Simonchenko (2016-2017) ; Queen of the Bed * as (1969-1971) * as (1971-1975) * as (1976-1986) * as (1986-1994) * as (1994-1997) * as Conrada Demichelis (2016-2017) ; Interceptor * as (1969-1973) * as (1973-1988) * as (1988-1994) * as (1994-1997) * as Mikhail Lukorev (2016-2017) Recurring Cast * as Lev Aldovich (1969-1971; 1974-1979) * as Lt. Marvik Shevchenko (1969-1973) * as Ruslan Gramopov (1969; 1977-1986) * as Lev Zhazhunev (1969-1988) * as Martina Zhazhuneva (1969-1971; 1991-1997) * as Mikhaela Arasova (1970-1972; 1976-1997) * as Cedric Lee (1970-1981) * as Mark Lumanov (1975-1985) * as Ravil Kladovich (1979, 1981-1983) * as Rostislava Ruslanova (1980-1992; 1996-1997) * as Tatiana Kordova (1981) * as Ismail Ismailov (1984-1991) Broadcast History ; Original Run (MNBN) * April 26, 1969 - April 2, 1994 ** Saturday, 9:45 - 10:45 PM (regular episode) ** Saturday, 9:45 - 11:45 PM (two-part special) ** Saturday, 9:45 PM - Sunday, 12:30 AM (three-part special) * September 23, 1994 - September 12, 1997 ** Friday, 9:45 - 10:45 PM (regular episode) ** Friday, 8:45 - 10:45 PM (two-part special) ** Friday, 8:45 - 11:45 PM (three-part special) * Series finale (December 19, 1997) ** Friday, 10:45 PM - Saturday, 12:30 AM ; Official MNBN Reruns * January 21, 2002 - January 3, 2003 ** Monday - Friday, 1:20 - 3:50 AM (episodes aired chronologically, three episodes per day) * May 12, 2003 - October 1, 2005 ** Monday to Saturday, 9:45 - 10:45 PM (episodes aired chronologically, one episode per day) * December 6, 2004 - October 19, 2007 ** Monday - Friday, 4:40 - 5:30 AM (episodes aired chronologically, one episode per day) * November 26, 2007 - May 1, 2009 ** Monday - Friday, 3:00 - 4:40 AM (episodes aired chronologically, two episodes per day) * January 1, 2010 - December 23, 2012 ** Friday - Sunday, 2:10 - 3:50 AM (episodes aired randomly, two episodes per day) * January 21, 2013 - present ** Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 12:30 - 3:50 AM (episodes aired randomly, four episodes per day Episodes Main Article: History Development and Pre-broadcast (1966-1969) Since its foundation in 1959, Margovyan National Broadcasting Network has been putting TV series in demand, as to not bore viewers in doing news reports during its entire twenty-one-hour daily operation. Even with three TV series and one game show on the run during that time, the network still demanded more TV shows to make it attract more viewers. On July 27, 1966, Iosef Dimakulanov, an actor who wanted to try his hand on producing and running TV shows, came up with a "mediocre plan" on a new TV series, which was supposed to be a musical TV series, entitled "The Singers". Initially, the network critics refused to review Dimakulanov's plan, as they were pissed off by Dimakulanov's description of his plan. However, Dimakulanov accidentally left his plan in the critic room once and one of the critics read it, and declared the plan would make "the best TV series Margovya has ever seen". On April 27, 1967, MNBN ordered Dimakulanov to revise his TV series, as Margovya-rama announced that a musical TV series, Band Mates, which is of almost the exact same concept as The Singers, is currently under production. Four months later, Dimakulanov came up with another plan, which has also the same concept as his old plan, however, the genre is changed from musical to police procedural and comedy. On September 19, 1967, MNBN officially picked up the series, which was re-entitled The Interceptors, for a production season of twenty-six episodes. On October 25, 1967, Dimakulanov and the staff for The Interceptors started holding auditions for the roles of the main characters. The first role taken was that of the Interceptor, with Dimakulanov having a hard time choosing between , and . Dimakulanov decided to cast Del Quiev as a recurring character, and later on Malenkov decided to give Ribabov the role, not knowing that he would later inherit the role and carry it for a long time. and were taken in next, although initially, Maryanov was the Brawn, while Shevchenko was the Speed. However, Shevchenko confessed about his lack of skills in driving, so Dimakulanov switched his role with Maryanov's. The role of the Brain was taken in next, with two candidates being and . However, Dimakulanov later decided to give Borisov the role, and cast Urov as a guest star in one of the episodes of the first season. The last role to be taken in was the Mouth (the Queen of the Bed was not in the original plan), with three candidates being , and . However, when the idea of having a "bed expert" in the crew came to Dimakulanov, he immediately gave the role of the Mouth to Irina Balkonovich, while the remaining two candidates were transferred to the new role. However, Dimakulanov later decided to give Bulshitova the new role, which he chose to name "Queen of the Bed", while Elemat would be casted later on as a special guest in one of the episodes of the second season. On March 23, 1968, about two weeks after the casting has concluded, the filming for the episodes of The Interceptors has began. About five to seven days is taken to film an individual episode, while about eleven to fifteen days is taken to film a two-part special, and on October 19, 1968, the filming for the twenty-six episodes of the first season has concluded, and promotions were made. On December 30, 1968, the official trailer for the series was launched, and the series' actors started promoting the show in several programs. On January 12, 1969, MNBN picked up Saturday Late At Night (9:45 to 10:45 PM) as the show's official schedule, and April 26 as its official premiere. During the press conference regarding the new series on February 20, 1969, Dimakulanov told everyone that The Interceptors would be a great milestone in Margovyan television history, and this was supported by most of the critics who saw the series' first episode prior to its original release. On April 26, 1969, The Interceptors officially made its debut in Margovyan television. First Three Seasons and Early Success (1969-1972) Initially, The Interceptors was only approved for a full-season run. However, with the 1.016-million view count on the first episode, and the gradual increase in viewership ratings in the succeeding episodes, MNBN has approved the series for a second season composed of another twenty-six episodes. After the success of the second season in 1971, The Interceptors was approved for a three-season run, in which a season may contain 20-35 episodes. In 1971, Dimakulanov changed the theme of the third season, and entitled it "The Interceptors: A Long Line of Operations", in which every episode in the season has the name "Operation" at the beginning of the title. The third season's featured three-part special, "Operation: The Great Race Bust", was well-received by viewers that the ratings has skyrocketed. Aside from the viewers, the critics were also impressed by the TV performance of The Interceptors, as well as the performance of its actors. TV Condemnation Org., Margovya's most prestigious TV critic organization, gave The Interceptors a general rating of 9.803 for the first three seasons. The Interceptors was also considered one of the best TV shows worldwide according to the 1965-1971 TV shows survey. Ribabov's Death and Dimakulanov's Departure (1972-1974) On August 18, 1972, the whole of Margovya and some parts of the world was shocked upon hearing the news regarding the death of , one of Margovya's most famous actors and the series' current "Interceptor". Ribabov's death has mostly hurt the production of the Interceptors, as the cast has only filmed half of the fourth season by the time of his death, although the first few episodes have already aired. Because of this, production of the fourth season was halted, and because the season was already approved for twenty-seven episodes, it was placed under indefinite hiatus, until in March 2, 1973, another actor, Vladimir Malenkov, has offered to take Ribabov's place as the Interceptor. He was immediately accepted into the show, and filming for the rest of Season 4 began March 6, 1973, and as soon as the first episode is done, it was immediately aired. Dimakulanov's enthusiasm in filming was notably decreasing, until eventually, his lack of enthusiasm was seen in the release of the next episodes, causing it to lose viewers at an unexpectedly accelerated rate. Dimakulanov has even permitted airing two to three individual episodes at once, causing the show to lose more viewers. Eventually, at the last episode of the fourth season, the number of viewers are lower than the first episodes' ratings. On June 3, 1973, one day after the last episode of the fourth season was released, MNBN officially cancelled The Interceptors. However, most of the show's cast petitioned airing the show for another season. According to lead actor Vasily Borisov, "the death of an actor is not enough reason to end such an amazing story. Marvik would never want to see the Interceptors crash and fall apart because of him. His death may have been the most tragic part of our lives, but believe me, if ever he's alive right now, he would rather see everyone continuing their lives as if nothing happened. So I suggest we continue the show and let Marvik serve as our inspiration". Because of this, MNBN has considered renewing The Interceptors for a fifth season. However, Iosef Dimakulanov, who was apparently hurt very bad by the death of one of his favorite actors, signed his resignation papers on June 6, 1973, telling everyone that he will be leaving for the sake of the show. Since then, the show's rights have been available for any producer who wants to take over and rebuild the show. However, after a month, no one bought the rights to the Interceptors, until MNBN was forced to cancel the show on July 14, 1973, until , Marvik Ribabov's closest friend, has bought the rights to the series. He was immediately signed in as the show's new executive producer, and MNBN has approved the show for a fifth season. After Markovsky took over, he began a re-casting session for the cast of the new Interceptors. However, since all of the current actors are still great at acting, they were all retained in their respective roles, except for , who accepted his candidacy for Vice President in the 1974 elections. Because of this, a casting session was began for the role of the new Technologist. Two actors were competing for the role, and . Later on, MArkovsky would decide to cast Baychenko as a recurring character and let Kiskov take the spot. Filming for the fifth season began on September 12, 1973, and with Markovsky as the new Executive Producer, it only took about four to six days to film an individual episode and seven to eleven days to film a two-part special. Filming ended on January 27, 1974, and the show was immeidately promoted. On February 15, 1974, the trailer for the fifth season of The Interceptors, now marketed as "The New Interceptors", was released, and actors started promoting the show in several programs. Because the Saturday 9:45 to 10:45 PM schedule was closed on October 1973 to give way to new shows, MNBN reopened the show's old schedule to give way for the new season's impending release. On April 6, 1974, The Interceptors made its return on national television. ''The New Interceptors'' (1974-1977) As expected by almost every member of the Intereptors family, the series started from scratch, earning a small amount of viewers during its first episode of renovation, and because of the thought of having this kind of reception, Markovsky wisely decided not to film any two-part specials for the whole twenty-nine-episode run of this season. However, the succeeding episodes did a slow-but-sure rating increase, enough for MNBN to approve the show for a sixth season. The "New Interceptors" is still composed of 20-35 episodes, but this time, a story is never completed in one individual episode, nor in a two-part or three-part special; a story arc consisting of six to eleven episodes (two-part specials count as two episodes) is injected in every season, meaning that a season may contain three to four story arcs, depending on the length and theme of the story arc. This new development caused the ratings of the show to increase with each following season, an dfinally, when Season 7 ended in 1976, MNBN has approved The Interceptors for a seven-season run, meaning that the show is approved for until 1983. Upon beginning Season 8, Markovsky decided to add the latest and eventually last character addition to the series: the "Spy" or the officer who will stealthily observe criminals and eventually catch them on act. Markovsky promoted Season 8 of The Interceptors as "The Interceptors: Unstoppable" for its steadily increasing viewership ratings. MNBN picked January 1, 1977 as the start of the eighth season, promoting it with a "start the new year right" advertisement, saying "Start your 1977 right with The Interceptors!", causing it to increase publicity and eventually, The Interceptors are starting to be broadcast outside Margovya. ''The Interceptors'': The Golden Age (1977-1993) On the broadcast of the first episode of the eighth season of The Interceptors, the show received a viewership rating of a whopping 4.670 million viewers, and it has steadily increased by the succeeding episodes and seasons, until Markovsky declared the year 1979 as the beginning of the series' "golden age", as the show has reached 10 million viewers by May of the aforementioned year. In 1981, MNBN cut the seven-year-contract with The Interceptors, and instead replaced it with an indefinite-time contract, meaning that the show can be extended for as long as they want, until its ratings drop for a certain reason or circumstance. The series' rise in popularity was truly unstoppable, and the arrival of stars such as , , , and gave the show a larger boost. This trend continued until the 1990's, when less popular and less appealing stars were introduced to the series. However, the show kept its standing above the 15-million mark until Season 23 ended in 1993. Markovsky's Departure and Emergence of Controversies (1993-1994) On March 21, 1993, following Vice President 's successful impeachment, Markovsky was unexpectedly elected as the new Vice President of the country, winning in the special Vice President conclave with a surprising 209 votes out of 258 voters, which included the Senate, the House of Representatives, the House of Justices, and the House of Ministers. As a result, Markovsky had to resign as the executive producer of 19 TV shows in three TV networks, including Svolochy Showdown, Cars of Margovya, The Next Big Thing, and The Interceptors. According to Markovsky, turning over The Interceptors, the TV show that he handled the longest, was his most difficult decision. However, his duty as Vice President has fully affected his performance as executive producer of the show, so he decided to leave the show, and, if possible, return after his term as Vice President. On March 28, 1993, Markovsky officially signed his resignation to the show, and personally recommended as the new executive producer of the series. However, , aspiring producer and son of Iosef Dimakulanov, attempted to buy the rights of the show for an undisclosed but huge amount of money. This negotiation was turned into an auction when Pankavuranov offered a larger amount for the rights to the show. The auction was finally cut out when Dimakulanov's offer of m4.375 billion was leaked on national television. Dimakulanov was signed in as the show's new executive producer, and filming for the show's twenty-fourth season was eventually started. Although viewership ratings of the show was not as high as it was during Markovsky's time, it was still received well by critics, who gave the show a respectable 8.675 at the end of its twenty-fourth season. However, on April 19, 1994, a week shy to the franchise's silver anniversary celebration, , one of the series' highlight actresses, much to the surprise of almost all viewers, was fired by Dimakulanov, and on April 22, only three days after the controversial exit of Shchpalova, , another highlight actor in the series, voluntarily left the show, according to him, for "political reasons", although most of his co-actors and other personalities outside of Margovya did not buy this, given the fact that Umalin was one of Shchpalova's closest friends. Dimakulanov's side was taken first, and he said that the reason why he fired Shchpalova was because of his so-called "creative differences". On an exclusive interview with MNBN on May 5, 1994, the actress narrated what happened between her and Dimakulanov the day she got fired. On the first episode of the twenty-fifth season, Shchpalova was ordered to make a "scene" with 's character, a scene she has refused three times since her acting career. "I get it that my role here is the Queen of the Bed, the cop who takes random guys to bed, but every film director who will hire me must understand that I'm not that type of pornographic actress who would do some bi-fem action" Shchpalova told MNBN. "If Dimakulanov wants me to make a scene with him, it's fine with me, but I'm not into girl love scenes. This time that Dimakulanov guy has gone too far. If he continues how he's treating his actors, this show's going to end, and it will be because of him". Falldown and Eventual Cancellation (1994-1997) Because of Mara Shchpalova and Gregoriy Umalin's unexpected departure, the Interceptors' 25th anniversary special episode was cancelled, much to the dismay of all actors in the series, as well as the people of Margovya. Morale of the cast members went down, and so did the show's viewership ratings. On the first episode of season 25, the viewership went below the 10-million mark, on the first episode of season 26, ratings fell below the 5-million mark, and eventually, on the first episode of season 27, ratings are now below the 1-million mark, and TV Condemnation Organization gave it a rating of 0.886 out of 10 for its "substandard quality for television". Talk show host even called Dzherik Dimakulanov a "poor excuse of a television producer" for "desecrating what used to be one of the best shows Margovya has ever had". However, despite this, MNBN did not change its approval for the season to have twenty-nine episodes. However, halfway through season 27, ratings have fallen below the 500-thousand mark, and is now even lower than when the show first went down back in 1973. Until on August 27, 1997, weeks before the final episode of season 27 was aired, MNBN officially cancelled The Interceptors, which is no longer a surprise to the team consisting the show, as its last episode aired on September 12, 1997 only garnered a viewership rating of an estimated 98,000 viewers. However, on October 13, 1997, four days after his resignation as vice president, and hearing the news about the series' cancellation, talked to MNBN and requested to have a proper series finale for the show. Though Dzherik Dimakulanov was rejected five times by the MNBN for the same request, since it was Markovsky who will direct the episode, he was permitted to have a two-part final episode as part of season 27. Gathering the cast of the last season, Markovsky started the production of the two-part special, entitled "Mission Accomplished", on October 18, setting an air date, if possible, before 1998, as he plans to turn The Interceptors into a movie, with a plot following the plot of the final episode. Production for the episode ended on November 14, while MNBN promoted the series finale for about a month, and the episode's release on December 19, 1997 garnered around 33 million viewers, the largest viewership that any Margovyan TV series has received, therefore beating its previous highest-rating episode, the season 22 episode "Coast to Coast Rush" by a landslide. Post-TV and Pre-Movie Development (1997-2000) On December 21, 1997, two days after the release of the show's final episode, Dzherik Dimakulanov made a public apology regarding what has become of The Interceptors under his management, and during his apology, he mentioned Shchpalova as well. However, this did not change MNBN's decision of not giving him back the rights of the series, after the network's President received reports on him giving cast member corporal punishments (on Tilnova's case, 300 push-ups) after messing up her lines three times each for three scenes in a row. On January 26, 1998, Yulian Markovsky bought back the rights to the Interceptors, which was gladly accepted by MNBN. On February 2, Markovsky enlisted the help of some trusted writers to write a suitable plot for the upcoming Interceptors movie. On March 14, Markovsky received six proposals: one from acclaimed writer , one from veteran actor , one from The Interceptors' most loyal actor , one from former cast member , one from acclaimed writer , and last one from an undisclosed writer (some sources claim it to have been , who is a fan of the series, just not of that in Markovsky's time as executive producer). After several debates with his producers and advisers, Markovsky rejected the proposals of Quebadieva and Dumayev for plots being too "dark", and decided to combine the proposals of Pankavuranov, Borisov, Kiskov, and the mystery writer, whose work as actually praised by Markovsky for "adding a touch of the modern era to the team of police officers who began in the 1970's". Soundtracks Even though The Interceptors is not a musical, the series still spawned multiple soundtracks during its entire three-decade run, however, unlike musical-genre TV series like Band Mates (1968-1987) and The Next Big Thing (1977-1994), which spawned at least fifteen soundtracks each, The Interceptors only produced five official soundtracks, which were released in 1971, 1975, 1983, 1992 and 1996, respectively. Most of the songs in these soundtracks were played during selected scenes of some episodes, or were inspired by the show itself. Most of the songs were sung by actors and actresses who played a main role in the show, even though the producers still import songs from other artists. Here are the respective track listing of all the soundtracks in the show: ''The Interceptors OST'' (1971) A Side: "Intercept Me" (Vasily Borisov) - 03:45 "Take Me to a Journey" (Gleb Maryanov ft. Svetlana Elemat) - 04:12 "Are You the One?" (The Margovyan Oldies) - 04:03 "Queen of the Bed" (Susana Bulshitova) - 04:02 "Make Me Laugh" (Genrikh Antonov) - 03:49 B Side: "Intercept Me" (Vasily Borisov, Acoustic Version) - 03:40 "Life and Death" (Yegor del Quiev) - 03:44 "Queen of the Bed" (Susana Bulshitova, Acoustic) - 03:58 "Rock n' Roll" (Marvik Ribabov ft. Genrikh Antonov and Yulian Markovsky) - 04:50 ''The Interceptors' Second OST'' (1975) Motion Picture (Vladimir Malenkov) - 03:53 Rock This Town (The Margovyan Oldies) - 03:38 When I'm Mad (Susana Bulshitova) - 04:06 Prove It (Yegor del Quiev) - 03:40 Meant to Be (Lyudmila Petrova) - 04:04 Stay on the Bed (Lyudmila Petrova ft. Yekaterina Fedorova) - 04:03 Born to be Trashed (Stinky Rock) - 04:30 Boogie Caritas (Susana Bulshitova) - 06:48 Farewell (The Interceptors Cast) - 04:43 ''The Interceptors OST: Third Strike'' (1983) Take Me Home (Yekaterina Fedorova) - 04:40 Ram Me Off the Road (Yegor del Quiev ft. Genrikh Masonovsky and Gleb Maryanov) - 03:49 Gimme Gimme (Your Money) (Yegor del Quiev) - 04:17 Intercept Me (Vladimir Malenkov) - 04:14 Rated Zero (The Margovyan Oldies) - 04:28 To My Ex (Konrad Kortesov) - 03:50 Shut Your Mouth (Darya Isarmova) - 04:05 Your Junk is Ours (Baba Filitov ft. Genrikh Antonov, Yulian Markovsky and Anton Kumlidov) - 04:52 I Spy on You (Susana Bulshitova ft. Lyudmila Petrova) - 04:31 ( ) - 04:11 (Journey, cover by Vasily Borisov and Irina Balkonovich) - 04:27 ''The Interceptors OST 4: Too Many Soundtracks Now'' (1992) Category:Margovya Category:Media (History of Margovya) Category:Television (Media, History of Margovya) Category:Humor Category:Media Category:The Interceptors (History of Margovya)